Elorza, teachers union reach tentative contract

Linda Borg Journal Staff Writer @lborgprojocom

Thursday

Nov 8, 2018 at 4:56 PMNov 8, 2018 at 4:56 PM

The proposal will go before the union's 1,900 members next Thursday at Rhodes on the Pawtuxet. If approved by the membership, it will go to the City Council for ratification. Negotiations have been taking place in fits and starts since the previous contract expired in August 2017.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The mayor and the Providence Teachers Union leadership have reached a tentative agreement, ending a prolonged drumbeat of criticism by teachers, who faulted the mayor for stalled negotiations last winter.

The tentative contract was announced Thursday by Mayor Jorge Elorza's office, two days after his convincing defeat of challenger Dianne "Dee Dee" Witman.

The proposal will go before the union's 1,900 members next Thursday at Rhodes on the Pawtuxet. If approved by the membership, it goes to the City Council for ratification. Negotiations have been taking place in fits and starts since the previous contract expired in August 2017.

A signed contract would end the controversial work-to-rule provision, which says that teachers don't have to do perform any tasks beyond what is spelled out in the contract. Some parents and students complained that this action made it difficult for students to schedule make-up tests, get extra help before or after school, or receive the full test preparation for the Classical entrance exam.

The tentative three-year agreement calls for wage increases, which neither party has released.

It also calls for continuing something called "school-based autonomy," an effort by Supt. Christopher N. Maher to give building principals and teachers much more control over how their schools are run. Prior to Maher's arrival, the central office exerted much more authority over matters such as how the curriculum is taught.

The contract proposal also includes expanded summer learning opportunities for teachers, more professional training opportunities for teachers and additional incentives for teachers who earn credentials in teaching English as a Second Language and advanced degrees.

"The leadership of the PTU is pleased that we could reach a tentative agreement that respects teachers and supports the need to address summer learning loss and the ability to continue our positive, collaborative relationship with the district in the best interest of our students," PTU President Maribeth Calabro said Thursday.

Elorza called the proposed agreement "a step in the right direction... as we seek transformational changes in our school system."

After nearly 900 teachers shouted down Elorza's State of the City address in February, Elorza pushed back, calling for a transformational contract, which he didn't elaborate on.

"The truth is that our schools, in so many ways, are low-performing and we can't tolerate the status quo," he said after the address. "We need to do something big, something with a vision."

At the time, he said that the teachers had just received a raise eight months earlier.

But the teachers' union said it was frustrated that contract talks had broken off in mid-January, after the city reportedly reneged on a "gentleman's agreement" that included modest pay increases.

Calabro said this winter that the union was "blindsided" after the city's negotiator made a new offer of no raises during the first two years of the contract and a 0.5 percent raise the final year.

Although Elorza urged the union to be reasonable, teachers kept up the pressure, staging an informational picket of Elorza's "All In" education summit in May and staging a silent protest at his budget address in April.

In August, teachers voted overwhelmingly to authorize work-to-rule. At first, there was concern that teachers would not write letters of recommendation for high school students' college applciations, but the union agreed to do so after Calabro received a poignant plea from a parent.

-lborg@providencejournal.com

(401) 277-7823

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